Chapter 34
Callum
Dallas and I enter his bedroom, and he slams the door shut as I drop the towel I used to dry my hair. Backing him up to the door, I fist the back of his hair and nibble his jaw before I snatch up his mouth.
I pull off the towel around his waist, stroking his long shaft.
He goes for my towel, but I stop him. “You already took care of me.”
We had the shower for ten minutes, but that was long enough. Fuck, he loves to blow me.
“It’s your turn,” I whisper.
I trail kisses down his body, but he pulls me back up. “I want you to blow me in a Fox Hill Country Club shower.”
I laugh, coming back up and gripping his jaw as I kiss down his neck.
“Or in my father’s desk chair?” I ask. “Hm?”
“Or on my lawnmower.”
I can’t help it. I break into laughter, burying my face in his neck.
“That would be hot, actually,” I tease. “Just your jeans, no shirt. I always wanted you to take off your shirt.”
We kiss in between smiles.
“Iron did that enough for all of us,” he jokes.
“Yeah, I noticed.” I chuckle.
He jerks my chin up, forcing me to face him. “Oh, did you?”
My heart races, seeing the jealousy in his eyes. “Well, you were the one I was dying to see, though.”
But I can hardly contain my grin. I’ve waited a long time for him to be possessive of me.
“You know, I was worried you’d leave town while I was away at school,” I admit. “You were on my mind for a long time.”
I was dying to get back here to him.
“I might’ve been gone.” His voice falls to a whisper, holding me close.
“But I kept finding things to hang on to. Seeing you from time to time over your last year at Marymount. Watching Iron get arrested and waiting for his return. Then your father’s threat to our land…
” He holds my eyes. “I kept telling myself that I could go once one problem or another was solved.”
I dart my eyes to the right, to the parentheses drawn on his wall, next to his door. Solve the problem in parentheses first.
“That’s what that means?” I ask, gesturing to the symbol.
He just gives me a small smile. “Every time I hit it, I’d tell myself I was free as soon as I dealt with this or that. If I could find one thing to hang on to—one goal to wait for—then I could make an excuse to stay. Turns out I didn’t really want to go.”
“And now?” I ask. “What’s in the parentheses now?”
“Your happiness.”
No hesitation. No thinking. He just says it.
That’s his goal now, and fuck. I crash down onto his mouth, kissing him.
I didn’t think it was possible to fall for him more, but I’m going to love finding out. I feel like there’s so much more to know about him, and I can’t wait for every minute alone with him.
We hold each other, our lips brushing as we just stay there for a moment. I want to just crawl into bed, but we do have other problems to solve together.
“We don’t have much longer,” I warn him. “We have maybe till Monday to figure out how to get rid of my father.”
He sighs, releasing me and handing me a pair of Army’s clean pants. His waist is more my size. “I know,” he says as he kisses me again.
“He’s planning right now,” I point out as we get dressed. “I wouldn’t put it past him to set all of this on fire. Now that he knows what you have…”
“We have intel on him.” He hands me a T-shirt. “Videos of his affairs, deals with partners of questionable criminality, and white-collar shit.” He combs his hand through his hair. “None of it can put him away.”
He flexes his abs as he walks over to grab his wallet and stick it in his back pocket. I hold back my groan.
“CEOs only go to prison when they lessen shareholder value, Dallas.”
I fan out the sheets and fluff the comforter, even though it’s already dark.
We won’t be going to bed yet, though. He wants a little fun at Fox Hill, so why not? I’m in the mood to sneak around right under their noses.
“You didn’t get a camera in the Wolfe Room?” I ask.
I already know he didn’t, otherwise he would’ve said, but I expected that was one of his goals when he challenged me to get him in.
He inhales a deep breath. “Anything that’s going to work independently needs wires or solar power.”
The Wolfe Room is underground.
“Anything else,” he continues, “I’d have to bring in and directly point it at the crime. And I’d have to let it happen.”
Yeah, I see the dilemma. I’ve never witnessed a crime in there, but Anna-Katherine is proof that they do happen.
“The rest,” he sighs, “no one’s going to give a shit about.”
I take a seat on the bed and catch him by the waist as he moves in.
He’s right. No one will care that my father sleeps around or that Mitchell Kenmont likes to screw his daughter-in-law. Consenting adults and all. In the current climate, men just grow more popular for that behavior.
“We have bigger problems, though.” He strokes my hair as I look up at him. “Fucking a teacher is bad enough, but what’s Father McNealty going to say when you’re fucking a male teacher?”
I rumble with laughter. Yeah, I hadn’t thought about that. A booster in charge of sponsoring the position Dallas holds at the school, in addition to being gay in a religious environment, has some conflicts of interest.
I rest my chin on his stomach, tipping my eyes up at him. “There’s a donation for that, I’m sure.”
No worries.
Leaning down, he kisses me, and if we don’t get out of here, he’s not going to get blown by an upstanding member of Fox Hill Country Club in their locker room.
But he lifts his head as if something occurred to him. “Where’s Anna-Katherine?”
I hesitate, thinking. She went with Aracely hours ago, but I haven’t seen her.
“She was with the girls,” I reply. “They’re outside.”
She must be with them. How could I not check?
We leave, and I grab my phone on the way out, the battery nearly dead.
Jogging down the stairs, we bolt through the kitchen and out the patio door. Clay, Liv, and Krisjen linger around the pool, relaxing after the long day of cleanup.
I scan for Aracely, but she’s not here. My sister is probably with her.
“Where’s Anna-Katherine?” I ask.
They stop, trading looks. Finally, Liv says, “Well, she was inside. Isn’t she now?”
My pulse throbs everywhere. Fuck.
Dallas jets inside, while I bring up the app on my phone to track her.
I hear him call her name, and I’m going to call her phone, but I need to make sure she’s in Sanoa Bay first.
As soon as he comes running back outside, I find her phone, recognizing the intersections immediately. “Marymount,” I tell him.
Without saying a word, we head for his car at the same time.
“Keep your phones on,” he tells his sister and the others.
Yanking open the doors, we climb into his Supra, and in seconds, we’re racing down the road toward St. Carmen.
How did she get to Marymount? Why?
She knows she’s not supposed to go anywhere without letting me know.
“Is your father tracking her?” Dallas asks, driving.
I shake my head, still distracted. “Uh, I pay for her phone,” I breathe out. “Ava and I monitor her settings, but…”
Who knows if he found a way to track it. We can’t make a move anymore without leaving a footprint.
He taps the screen of his phone on the mount, and I hear it ring several times.
He ends the call. “Army’s not answering.”
Should I call the police? Grady can be trusted. I think.
“Shit.” I roll down the window to get some air. My damn heart is about to explode. “Why would she leave without telling us?”
Did someone tell her I was there? Was she lured?
She knows to use Uber in an emergency, but she’s never had to. She uses her bike—which is at the house—or she uses…
Barnes.
Oh, shit.
Quickly, I call the driver. I would think someone would’ve noticed a sleek black car coming into the Bay, but you can’t see the road from the pool, and Dallas’s brothers are still out handling shit. Except for Trace, who’s at the pub.
Barnes picks up after two rings. I don’t wait for him to say hello.
“Did you pick up Anna-Katherine?” I burst out.
“Yes,” he replies. “We’re at the school.”
I wet my throat, thankful it wasn’t someone else who got her there under false pretenses.
“I’m waiting for her outside,” he tells me. “Something about checking her art after the storm.”
Right. The windows. She was probably panicked when she realized that St. Carmen probably had downed trees like Sanoa Bay.
“She called you, right?” I press.
“Yes.”
I almost smile, relieved.
Then it hits me, and my nerves fire again. I pull the phone away from my ear, looking to Dallas. “He’s not tracking her,” I whisper, “but he’s tracking the driver.”
If my father is in town, he uses the car. If it’s not at home, he’ll look to see where my stepmother or I’m at.
Sweat beads on Dallas’s neck. “Fuck.”
I hold the phone to my ear again. “I need you to go in and get her,” I say loud and clear. “Tell her I said it’s not safe. I’m on my way.”
“Your father just arrived,” he retorts. “He’s with her now.”
My heart sinks into my stomach. Goddammit!
“Go get her!” I growl.
I hang up and grip the doorframe. “He’s there,” I tell Dallas. “Floor it!”
We race into St. Carmen, kicking up puddles and mud as we speed to the school. I’m glad we don’t see any cops. They’re probably all busy settling up whatever trouble happened during the storm, but at the same time, a cop might be nice.
Racing up the street, we barrel into the school’s parking lot until I see Barnes’s car. Screeching to a halt, Dallas and I both run out, and I spin around, noting my father’s silver car parked along the fencing.
We swing open the side door, both of us keeping our eyes peeled as we run as fast as we can up to Dallas’s classroom.
Racing through his door, we find the lights on but no Anna-Katherine. We search every corner, the nook, and I even yank out Dallas’s desk chair. She’s not hiding under his desk, though.
He holds up her backpack from the windowsill, her phone underneath.
My lungs empty, and I want to fly off the handle, but we don’t have time to lose.
“Spread out,” I tell him, moving for the door.
He chases after me. “No fucking way.”
I twist around and catch him, kissing him. My father’s car is still here, so she’s still here.